


My Miracle

by padaholic_316



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Burns, DAWSEY FOREVER, F/M, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt Matt, Hurt Matthew Casey, I tried not to be too graphic though, NOT a death!fic, Season/Series 05 Spoilers, Serious Injuries, Sorry Not Sorry, dawsey, despite how the first couple paragraphs might make it sound, love me some Matt whump, rated T for descriptions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 10:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padaholic_316/pseuds/padaholic_316
Summary: My prediction as to what will happen at the fire shown in the season 5 finale promos. NOT A DEATH FIC!!!!Shamelessly stealing the name of the episode because I'm the least original fic namer EVER lolSeriouslyHurt!Matt, loving/worried!Gabby, worried!51crew, Dawsey





	My Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> This. Is. NOT. A. Death!fic. 
> 
> Cannot emphasize that enough. I love Matty far too much to ever even consider killing him off, even in fanfiction. 
> 
> Having said that, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to whump my favorite character and also contribute to the not-nearly-big-enough Chicago Fire fanfic community. Enjoy!!! 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Chicago Fire is not mine, sadly, and neither are any characters in this story except the fictional Chief Larson and Dr. Leah Wilson. 
> 
> Unbetaed- all mistakes are mine. I did some online research on fourth-degree burns and debridement, but do NOT take anything else medically mentioned or described as fact. I am not a doctor, and I'll freely admit to having no clue as to what I'm talking about with medical things most of the time. 
> 
> Also: SCBA = self-contained breathing apparatus, basically the oxygen mask firefighters wear. (also learned from online research)

•

"Casey, please tell me you found the victim..."

Static.

"Gabby... I love you..."

**_BOOM!_ **

"NO!!!" Gabby screamed, stumbling forward in shock. "MATT!!!!"

"NO!!!!" Cruz cried, lunging forward toward where a set of double doors had just been blown off their hinges, Severide barely able to stop him from running headlong into the inferno.

"CASEY!!!! Herrmann shouted in horror, dimly hearing similar cries of shock and horror from Otis, Kannell, and the other Truck and Squad crew members around him.

But it was too late.

The fire had flashed over.

Brett stood stock-still, hands over her mouth in shock, eyes filling up with tears.

Boden kept calling Casey's name into his radio, demanding an answer that wasn't going to come.

Severide and Cruz clung to each other, eyes fixed on the fire, looking like they were just barely holding each other upright.

Kannell had his hands on his head, jaw hanging open in horrified disbelief.

A stunned silence had fallen over all of the men and women from Firehouse 51.

Finally, Gabby lost her battle to hold back her sobs as the first of many tears rolled down her cheek.

"Matty..."

Matt Casey was gone.

• 

The other two firehouses on scene told 51 to sit this one out, they got this. Everyone was still too much in shock to do anything but obey, backing up out of the way of the other firefighters, continuing to stare at the blaze in silence. Severide and Brett went to Gabby and held her as she sobbed, falling to her knees in grief. Almost everyone else shed some quiet tears of their own, as well.

About an hour later, once the blaze was under control, Chief Nicholas Larson from Firehouse 89 came up to Boden. "60's just finishing up," he murmured, referring to the other house that was still putting out the hotspots. "It's safe for us to go in now. I can send some guys in, if you want..."

Boden nodded slowly. "That would be great, thanks, but I think a few of us would like to come with you, myself included."

"Are you sure?" Chief Larson asked, concern clear in his voice. "We can handle this, I know it's gonna be awful for you guys to - I mean, we don't even know what we'll find in there..."

"We'll find my lieutenant," Boden stated, knowing what Larson had meant but not caring. "And we should be there."

Larson stared hard at Boden for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "Okay, if that's really what you want," he relented.

"It is," Boden replied. "Thank you." He turned to face his crew. "Severide, Herrmann, can I see you for a minute?"

The two men wander over slowly, clearly still in shock. "Chief Larson here is gonna send some of his men in for the recovery," he tells them quietly, forcing himself not to hesitate or choke on the word 'recovery'. He could break down later; right now, he needed to be strong for his crew. "I'm gonna go with him, and I was wonderin' if you guys would like to come too." He'd picked Hermann and Severide because they were some of Matt's oldest and closest friends at the house, and because he thought they'd be the most able to hold it together when they found Matt. That's why he hadn't asked Gabby - he knew it would be too much for her. He only hadn't asked Kannell because the guy was so new, and such a good friend of Matt's, that Boden just wasn't sure how he'd handle this.

Herrmann and Severide shared a look before nodding together. "51 should be the ones to get him out, Chief," Severide said softly, visibly choking back tears.

"Yeah," Herrmann agreed, wiping at his eyes, then slinging an arm over the Squad lieutenant's shoulders in support. "It's only right."

"Okay then," Boden said, turning to Larson. "Let's get goin'."

• 

Once suited up - just to be safe, since the majority of the fire was out but small patches were still smoldering - Larson led the three men from 51 into the building, along with three men of his own. They started from Matt's last known location, knowing he couldn't have gotten too far in the heavy fire conditions. And when two of 89's men rounded the first corner they came across and froze, Boden knew they'd found him.

"Guys," Boden called softly to Herrmann and Severide, heading toward the two 89 firefighters. Hearing his men following him, he rounded the corner and forced himself not to hesitate as he strode toward his fallen lieutenant.

Severide and Herrmann, though, weren't able to stay quite as composed at the sight of the charred uniform. "Matt..." he heard a teary Herrmann choke out. A quiet "oh, God" from Severide preceded the sounds of retching.

Boden was trying to keep from retching, himself. It was like Andy all over again - like Shay all over again. _God_... they'd lost too many like this.

The smell of charred flesh was nearly unbearable. The victim Matt had been trying to save was lying next to him, face burnt practically off, clearly dead. Flashovers were lethal with full fire gear on, let alone for unprotected civilians. And as for Matt... well, he wasn't a whole lot better. He'd clearly been burned past what was survivable. His arms were stretched over his head, bent at the elbows, forearms crossed, presumably in an attempt to shield his face. Patches of bright red or blackened skin were visible through what little was left of his lieutenant's jacket and pants, and the back of his helmet looked half-melted. Still, Boden knelt down, pulled off a glove and felt for a pulse, out of instinct, knowing he wouldn't find one.

Which is why it was such a shock when he felt something - almost imperceptible, but definitely there - flutter beneath his fingertips.

Thinking it had been a fluke, or a trick of his imagination, Boden pressed his fingers in a little harder and waited several long seconds for another -

There.

A pulse.

_Oh, God._

Quickly yanking off his other glove, Boden leaned to the side, peering down at Matt's face, which was still covered by his SCBA. The plastic had melted slightly, but not into Matt's skin, thank God, since Matt was face-down. Incredibly carefully, knowing he could be causing further injury but willing to risk it, needing to know if he had really just felt what he thought he had, Boden tilted Matt's head to the side and pushed the SCBA down and off his face, then slipped a finger underneath Matt's nose, waiting for any signs of breath. With his other hand, he went back to Matt's pulse point.

And... there. Almost simultaneously, there was another flutter under the fingers on Matt's neck and a tiny puff of air from his nose.

And with that, Wallace couldn't hold back any longer.

"HE'S ALIVE!!!!! MATT'S ALIVE!!!!!"

• 

Everyone from 51 was in the waiting room of the Chicago Med ER. Gabby had called another ambo to the scene to bring Matt in, since she was basically in hysterics and knew she wouldn't be of much use. She, Kannell, Otis, Mouch and Cruz had rushed into the building as soon as they'd heard Herrmann shout the news over the radio.

Matt was alive.

But barely.

Gabby had been taught, as a paramedic and again as a firefighter, that flashovers were unsurvivable. There were avoidance techniques and delay tactics, but when those failed and the heat reached its critical point, you had three seconds to get out or you were dead. She had thought - no, known - that the love of her life was gone forever, burned to death horribly.

So, even though she knew he was barely alive, in critical condition, and she shouldn't get her hopes up, she was currently weeping with joy and relief into Herrmann's shoulder.

Matt was alive.

And right then, that's all that mattered.

•

"Family of Matthew Casey?"

It had been almost four hours with no news. Matt's mom and sister had arrived about an hour after the 51 crew, having been called by Gabby. They stood up at the doctor's call, but so did everyone else from 51.

Gabby stepped forward with Matt's sister and mother. "I'm Gabriela Dawson, his wife and legal next of kin, this is his sister Christie and his mother Nancy," she quickly introduced. "And these..." she gestured to the rest of the crew, "are all his brothers and sisters as well." She stared the doctor down, daring the woman to challenge her.

The doctor, an older woman with graying blond hair and kind brown eyes, just smiled. "Doctor Leah Wilson," she introduced herself, shaking Gabby's hand. "So I can tell everyone here about Matthew's condition?"

"It's Matt, please, he hates Matthew," Gabby corrected with a small, teary smile of her own. "And yeah, you can tell all of us. How is he?"

"Getting prepped for surgery at the moment," the doctor replied, face growing serious as she turned to face the whole group. "It appears Matthew - Matt - held his breath for the duration of the flashover, which I believe is what saved his life," she began. "He has the kind of damage in his throat and lungs that you'd see from a particularly serious smoke inhalation victim, meaning fairly severe heat trauma, swelling and blistering in the airway, that type of thing. No actual smoke damage, of course, since he was protected from the smoke and gases by his breathing gear, but if he had inhaled during the flashover, the heat alone would've instantly killed him, breathing apparatus or no. This damage, however, is something he can, eventually, make a full recovery from."

"Oh, thank God," Gabby breathed, knowing that any severe lung damage would likely prevent Matt from ever working as a firefighter again.

"So what's the surgery for?" Christie asked fearfully.

The doctor hesitated slightly before replying, "Well, Matt has suffered burns to approximately 80 percent of his body, 60 percent of those being second degree or worse. That's life-threatening on its own, without the damage to his airway. Due to the percentage of his body that's affected, and the severity of some areas, we need to begin surgical debridement of the more severe burns as soon as possible." At Nancy and Christie's confused looks, she clarified, "Debridement means removal of the dead tissue, essentially. There are several different ways to do it, but in severe cases such as this, surgery is the quickest and most effective method. He hasn't regained consciousness since he's been here, but we'll put him under general anesthesia just to make absolutely sure he doesn't wake up during the procedure."

"Okay, so - does he have any other injuries, other than the airway damage and the burns?" Gabby asked.

"Thankfully, he doesn't have any broken bones or any injuries unrelated to the burns, no," Dr. Wilson replied as she turned to face Gabby, causing everyone in the room to breathe a sigh of relief. Matt's recovery was already going to be long and hard enough without additional injuries on top of the burns. "But he does have a couple of areas where the burns are severe enough that some muscle or ligament damage is present, his back and legs particularly," she continued, ramping Gabby's level of concern right back up again.

"So, fourth-degree burns?" she asked shakily.

"Yes, unfortunately," the doctor confirmed.

"I thought third-degree burns were the worst you could get, there's a fourth degree?" Nancy asked, sounding horrified.

"Fourth-degree is a term used to describe burns that cause damage below skin level, yes." Nancy and Christie glanced at each other in horror, both paling with shock. Gabby had known just from seeing him that Matt probably had some fourth-degree damage, but hearing out of the doctor's mouth... it made it a little too real. She felt nauseous.

"I expect Matt will need more surgeries and some PT down the road for the muscle and ligament damage, as well as probably some skin grafts," Dr. Wilson continued, "but for now we need to focus on treating the burns and keeping his pain at a manageable level. So basically," she summarized, turning to face the whole group, "the next forty-eight hours are critical. If the debridement worsens his shock symptoms, or if any complications arise, such as infection... well, to be perfectly honest with you all, his chances won't be good."

This news was met with worried murmurs from the 51 crew. "And what are the chances of an infection developing?" Severide asked, taking a step forward.

"Unfortunately, fairly high, since about four fifths of his body is essentially open wounds right now," the doctor responded. "But we already have him on some preventative antibiotics, which should help ward off any potential infection."

"So... when will he be able to have visitors?" Kannell asked.

"Well, given the number of different areas requiring immediate debridement, the surgery will probably take four to six hours, but it may be as long as eight," the doctor explained. "I'll be out to update you once he's out of surgery and settled into a private room in the burn unit. Once he's settled, he can have two visitors at a time during visiting hours, and one immediate family member can stay with him round the clock, if they want to."

"Thank you, Doctor," Nancy said faintly, shaking the woman's hand, Christie following suit. The doctor left, and in somewhat of a daze, everyone re-formed the small groups they'd been sitting in before - the Truck guys, Mouch and Otis, plus Cruz since he was under Matt's command on Truck for years; the Squad guys, Capp and Tony; the family, Nancy and Christie; the newbies, Brett and Kidd; and Matt's closest friends, Hermann, Severide, Kannell and Gabby. Boden was floating from group to group, checking on everyone. He'd been asking every group of 51 crew except Gabby's if he could drive anyone home or back to the station, but so far no one had wanted to leave, wanting to make sure Matt got through the surgery first.

And with each head shake, Gabby teared up a little more, until she was quietly crying again. This may be the worst day of her life, but she was so thankful for her 51 family; she knew they'd be there for her and Matt no matter what.

• 

"Hey, baby," Gabby whispered to Matt once everyone else had gone. Christie, Nancy, and each of the members of 51 had spent a few minutes with Matt after the seven-hour surgery, one at a time so that Gabby could stay, and the last person, Kidd, had just left. She wanted so badly to hold his hand, but both of his hands were wrapped in gauze, covered almost completely with second-degree burns. She couldn't find anywhere, in fact, where she could even put her hand on him without encountering a bandage or a first-degree burn.

"Well, this sucks, huh?" she asked with a watery laugh. She knew Matt probably couldn't hear her. The doctors had him on some pretty strong painkillers that they'd said would probably keep him totally out of it until tomorrow.

Which is why she let herself start sobbing again as she said, "I thought I lost you, baby..." She put her head down on the edge of his bed, being careful not to touch him, and let herself cry until she was pretty sure she was out of tears.

Once she'd cried herself out, she lifted her head and gazed at her husband's face. "But I didn't," she whispered to herself. She stood up and went to the head of the bed, carding her fingers incredibly gently through what little was left of Matt's beautiful blond hair. "I didn't lose you," she repeated, reassuring herself that he really was still there, leaning down and brushing a feather-light kiss against her love's burnt forehead. "We'll get through this. I know we will, you know how?" she asked, despite knowing Matt almost definitely couldn't hear her.

After a few seconds, she answered her own question. "Because you've already survived something nobody's supposed to be able to survive," she breathed, stroking a finger down a miraculously un-burnt patch of skin by Matt's left ear. "So you're not allowed to leave me after that, you hear me?"

Well, guess she hadn't totally cried herself dry after all. A tear slipped slowly down her cheek as she whispered, "You're a miracle, Matt."

Another feather-light kiss.

"My miracle."

• 

**Author's Note:**

> I left the ending kinda open for two reasons: one, it's gonna be the season finale, so if Matt does get seriously hurt, he's not gonna be recovered by the end of the episode, and I wanted this to just be the prediction for the end of the episode. And two, I wanted to get this done and posted before the actual episode airs, and I have work tomorrow, so I had to get it done tonight and that's just kinda what came out, lol.
> 
> Any and all feedback is always greatly appreciated!!!


End file.
